Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1887-04-12

feet above yol. Ddfins tue rainy SEA
sons Of spring and autumn, the rain ant
frost. frequently di.lodgs large fragments
OF ihi. mighty wall which come thunder
ing down with terrific force. The wood
en- ,fes,ls work over which our coach !,
now passing has been feqaently crushed
and ruined In this manner. bat the rocks
seldom. II ever. fall In the dry summer
season
when ones through the Golden Gate
We enter beautiful valley along which
we ride for d1zsn miles at Al altitude
Of 1000 feet. This !, region OF per.
pe,ull snow and lee We see !, packed
in the woods and along the ridges jus,
above. white. clear and sparkling In the
warm ray. Of the June sun, |, will Goa.
,inue to sparkle and will succeed in hold
Ing the for, through all the summer hea,
until September shall bring IL reinforce
men,s in IL. grea, snow clouds. Between
and beneath these Ice drifts is q luxuri.
ant growth Of grass. the green and the
white. The gra. aud the snow join
lands in the mos, fra,efnsl manner. and
10 the month Of July the mos, beautiful
aud fragrant Wild flowers will bloom
close up 10 the cold. hard shoulders OF
the drift. and send their swee, perfume
far up over the unmslied drifts.
Thu. IL always is In this life the ex.
,reme. touch the rieh and the poor. the
pure aud the impure. The high aud low
jo.,ls each other rudsly In the struggle
Coz lie. and nature carrie. ou, the same
analogy amid these terrific surrounding.
by producing plants and flower. with .ll
the rare beau,is. Of the iropic, close up
10 the henile... lifsless mountains OF
eternal Arctic ice. This valley !, par
sdi.e for the game. which in the Yellow.
stone park !. protected by government
officials.
Buffalo. elk and deer abound in this
rvsion. Oar driver informs us iha, It Is
no unusual thing 10 see herds Of the two
latter grazing ia the valley while his
coach roll. past. and quite frequently /.
few Of the former animals ate seen IN the
distance looking with sa'pieioa. air Al
the in,rudsr. We strained our vision 10
every direction. ba, all In vain; no, a
single buffalo. elk or deer VA. 10 be seen.
II the pr,.sn, system Of protection i' con.
,inued within few years the park will
be we'll stocked with ,hi. noble game.
Ia thi. valley We pas, Siver lake. where
We stop for moment 10 look upon the
rare beauty Of the scene. The surface
Of the water wn a. smooth as mirof.
The opposite eide from where We stood
Was walled by perpendicular elif sew
efal hundred Zee, high which was cover.
ed With ice aud snow. all Of which WAS
reflected from the water In mos, re-
m.fkablc manner. The rare beauty OF
the scene called forth many expressions
Of admiration from the spectators.
We now enter a dense gros,h OF pine
trees, small. scrub. second growth TIM
Der. through which vo toll slowly over
rock. and stump, until our sentimental
enthusiasm j. nearly al destroyed. "B'a.
YER Lake" soon afford. u, some relisfsnd
We Alighi from the coach to look upon
What wa. once genuine beaver city
The water must cover nearly 200 acre,
Of ground, nearly circular 10 form and
.hu, ia every side BY the dark green pine
forest.
Near the center Of the lake stood the
deserted house. Of the oolonis,'. con.
.,rue,ed Of sticks. boash' aud mud IN
manner which ,ho~s the rare cunning
aud geniu. Of these animals; hsnking
these houses and extending across the
lake In nearly every direction were 'e'
ne. Of dam. which they bad constructed;
With their sharp teeth they bad cut dosn
the small ..plins pine. aud gnswed the
trunk, into sticks Of proper length these
they had stuck down 10 the sofi bottom
Of tie pond, leaving one end Of each sew
ersl Zee, above the water. These up
righ, sticks were covered with dir, and
mud. and soon became a barrier through
which the water could not pass Several
years have evidently passed since this
city was abandoned by its builders. The
dam. ate now covered with grass bat
they remain 10 quite perisc, condition.
aud in some portions Of the lake the wa
ter walled in by these dams Is Apparen,'
IL some two OF three fee, higher than in
other portions OF the lake. !, was quite
a curiosity to inspect the s,amp' from
which the trees had been Cut by these in.
du.ui,us workmsn; the mark, OF their
teeth were plainly seen. telling IN mute
language the story Of their genius and
industry. 80.
No, f.r from Beaver Lake We will
pas. the "Obsidisn Clia,". which i' a
mountain OF dark eolored glass produced
by the action Of a volcano. The noun
tain rise. some 500 fee, above the turn.
pike and /. three-fourihs Of mile In
length. The road has been Gu, along At
IL. base; huge boulders OF glass have
been crushed into minute fragments and
now compose the road bed over which
the stage coach crashes with in heavy
load. The walls OF the mountain rise
perpendicular in some places for hum
dred fee, and more aud are As smooth as
the most highly finished glass. The
shade /, q deep dark green. not unlike
,ha, seen in the old.iashiOned square case
bottles. When we passed |, the sun va,
pouring hi. fierce rays down upon It and
the whole mass shown with peculiar
and msgnifcen, splendOr. Al It's crest
detached spurs stood up scores OF feet
above the greater mass. many OF which
were fashioned into def forms, and It
required no brillian, ina maginA,ion to trans
form this mountain Of glass into vast
cathedral with iis spires pointing to tbs
heavens-,o the home Of the great King
for whose worship i, had been erected.
Daring this even,fal day We pass
through "Gibbon's canon. one OF the
mos, beautiful within the park. II doe,
no, possess the bold. rugged outlines and
high,ful dimensions Of the Grand canon
Of the Yellowstone which We are soon tc
yisi,; but 1t has many features OF sym
me,rieal beauty no, found elsewhere. Al
.r,., ,hs canon. the Gibbon river. Z